Giving Patients Power Over Their Health with Plant-Based Telehealth

“What ends up happening is the patient is now in charge of their health.” ~ Dr. Niki Davis

Traditional medicine addresses chronic disease with pills and procedures that control symptoms or attempt to fix damage that’s already been done.

Plant-Based TeleHealth (now Love.Life Telehealth) takes a different approach: lifestyle medicine that uses a plant-based diet and personalized care to get to the root of diseases and help patients heal.

That’s what attracted Dr. Kim Scheuer, Dr. Niki Davis, Dr. Colin Zhu and Dr. Chris Miller to this unique new practice that serves patients across the U.S. They wanted to stop “putting band-aids” on patients’ problems, go beyond what they were able to do in traditional practice and start giving patients the time and attention they needed to get better—for good.

Through Plant-Based TeleHealth, these doctors and their colleagues are able to help patients reduce their medications and improve their health. The patients get less of what they don’t want (more pills) and more of what they do want (freedom from symptoms and disease).

Being part of that process has made practicing medicine more enjoyable.

“We get to watch these people helping themselves get better and start to live their lives again,” says Dr. Davis.

Dr. Scheuer sees an even bigger benefit: “It’s just such a pleasure to see how this affects not only the individual, but it ripples out to the community and to the world.”

It’s true: When patients are given the power to make choices that positively affect their own health, others see the change and want the same for themselves. And because Plant-Based TeleHealth is available in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., the ripple effect can spread far and wide.

Although the doctors acknowledge that making sweeping lifestyle changes isn’t the easiest approach, Plant-Based TeleHealth gives them the freedom to provide the support, information, accountability and encouragement people need to implement and stick with those changes. This includes making individualized adjustments to plant-based eating plans to ensure optimal results.

In the end, as Dr. Zhu points out, it’s all about the basics. Starting with whole, nutritious plant foods; talking to patients to uncover other factors that could be influencing their disease states; and laying out personalized diet and lifestyle plans provides the foundation for success.

“It’s really about people showing other people that this is possible, that this is wonderful,” says Dr. Davis. “And then it just spreads that way.”

🩺 Episode Highlights

• What makes plant-based lifestyle medicine different from mainstream medical care
• How taking a holistic look at the whole person instead of just their symptoms changes the way medicine is practiced and enables a lifestyle approach
• Why the ability to spend more time with patients is critical to helping them make lasting diet and lifestyle changes
• How quickly plant-based lifestyle medicine can begin to resolve symptoms and control or reverse chronic diseases
• How lifestyle medicine gives people control over health by enabling them to make choices instead of being stuck in a cycle of medications and side effects
• How personalized dietary adjustments can help people achieve the best results when eating plant based
• The need to dig deeper and go beyond nutrition to discover all the potential factors that influence patients’ health
• The importance of understanding what potentially conflicting information patients will get from traditional doctors who don’t understand plant-based lifestyle medicine
• The need for a paradigm shift in health, wellness and medicine to get people back to the basics and on track for long-term healing
• Success stories from the doctors’ practices

Takeaways for brands

1. People are going to want to take charge of their own health in increasing numbers, which will lead them to seek personalized nutrition. If your brand offers specific health or nutrient benefits, use your messaging to show consumers how it can help them meet their goals.
2. If your brand’s messaging leverages the health aspect of plant-based eating, make sure everything about your brand aligns with that promise. This includes ingredients, preparation instructions and all content you create.
3. Think about the outcomes your customers want, not just what product attributes will attract them. Consider how much help they need getting to those goals, and craft your messaging based on the significance of the dietary changes they’re making. People transitioning from a SAD diet to completely plant-based will need more guidance and education than seasoned plant-based eaters looking to optimize their health.
4. Customers have multiple thoughts and concerns around their diets that can influence how and what they buy. Use your messaging to address potential points of frustration or concern, such as nutrient intake. Demonstrate how your product can fill a gap in their diets or help them meet nutrient requirements specific to their health goals.
5. Resist the temptation to shower your customers with information, particularly if you’re marketing to a segment that’s healing from chronic conditions or has struggled with those conditions in the past. Instead, use your platform to provide useful, actionable guidance to make plant-based eating easier and more enjoyable.

About the Doctors & Plant-Based Telehealth

Plant-Based TeleHealth

Plant Based TeleHealth (PBTH) provides offers lifestyle medicine care for patients who have chronic disease and other conditions. Through the powerful, evidence-based practice of promoting healthy behaviors and lifestyle modification, including a whole food, plant-based diet, doctors work with patients to help them go beyond managing symptoms to experience real healing.

Dr. Kim Scheuer is board certified in both Family Practice and Lifestyle Medicine. She is conversant in Spanish and American Sign Language and is licensed to see patients in over 20 states. Kim lives and benefits from the lifestyle she recommends for her patients and loves to share her knowledge with all who want to be healthier and happier.

Dr. Colin Zhu is board-certified in family practice/OMT and lifestyle medicine. Passionate about the intersection of medicine, food, and nutrition, Dr. Zhu trained as a chef and a health coach and launched TheChefDoc in 2017, an online wellness and lifestyle education platform which has been featured in several publications. He is also the author of "Thrive Medicine: How To Cultivate Your Desires and Elevate Your Life,“ and is the podcast host of Thrive Bites.

Dr. Niki Davis is a “rocket scientist” turned lifestyle medicine doctor and is board certified in both family and lifestyle medicine.

Dr. Christina (Chris) Miller is a board-certified emergency physician, a board-certified Integrative Medicine practitioner and certified in both functional medicine and health coaching. Her experience with lupus led her to a plant-based diet, and through Plant-Based TeleHealth, she helps patients with chronic and autoimmune diseases use plant-based nutrition and lifestyle modifications to get on the path to healing.

All the doctors are available for telehealth appointments at PlantBasedTeleHealth.com!

Connect with the Doctors Online

• https://plantbasedtelehealth.com
• Dr. Scheuer: https://dokslifestylemedicine.com/,  Instagram @drkimscheuer
• Dr. Davis: https://drnikidavis.com, Facebook, Instagram @nikidavismd
• Dr. Miller: https://eatandlivehealthfully.com
• Dr. Zhu: https://chefdoczhu.com, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram @thechefdoc, host of Thrive Bites podcast

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